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WebDunce
Posts: 178 |
 
Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:06 pm |
I'm sure that Cingular execs in some boardroom somewhere wanted "High Quality." They decided to penalize equally for ALL mistakes, big or small. Their reasoning: no mistakes = high quality. It sounds good, but it doesn't work and it actually guarantees LOW quality.
Why?
Because we are humans. We WILL forget things. We WILL make mistakes.
But Cingular's pass/fail QA policy makes little things count as much as big things.
LITTLE THINGS…- say "they" : lose all 25 points for TONE & DEMEANOR.
- xfr to vesta but don't say vesta's # : lose all 40 points for RESOLUTION.
…COUNT JUST AS MUCH AS BIG THINGS- be rude: lose all 25 points for TONE & DEMEANOR.
- change prepaid mobile # but don't xfr balance to new #: lose all 40 points for RESOLUTION.
Experienced reps will tend to make little mistakes. Inexperienced reps will tend to make both little AND big mistakes (costing Cingular more $$$). But Cingular's QA policy makes it as likely that a 1-year rep will get fired (for making little mistakes) as that a 4-month rep will (for making big mistakes). But since the 1-year rep and the 4-month rep both got fired, they will be replaced by two reps just out of training, who will make far more mistakes than either the of 1-year or 4-month reps.
At my call center, due to the QA policy, most trainees never make it out of nesting. Those that do rarely make it past 4 months. A 1-year rep is rare. A 2-year rep is a real oddity.
So, just about the time new reps are getting the hang of our VERY COMPLEX systems and policies, they get the boot due to inane QA policies. This ensures high turnover, which ensures customers will frequently be greeted by a new rep, which guarantees low quality and that big, expensive mistakes will abound. Oddly, by not tolerating even little mistakes, they guarantee both little and big mistakes by NEW reps.
Cheers all,
--William
(As a side note, this also ensures Cingular will pay lots of $$$ for training reps continually)
Last edited by WebDunce on Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:41 am, edited 11 times in total |
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WebDunce
Posts: 178 |
Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:57 am |
At my call center, a fellow rep, provided me with this excellent example of how inane Cingular's QA policy is!
What happened?
The customer started off by cussing him out up one side and down the other. He calmed her down and, eventually, solved her problem. By the end of the call, she was crying and apologizing for cussing him out so bad (she had been thru 6 reps before him and was really frustrated).
At the end of the 45 minute call, it was necessary to xfr her to vesta. He educated her on the IVR but failed to give her the toll-free # (866-499-7888). Because he didn't give her the number, he lost resolution (40 points off the call). He saved the customer, he resolved the issue…and got fired.
Cingular lost an excellent rep. But I've seen many excellent reps get booted over idiotic nit-picky things that matter not one wit. Cingular's QA policy - at least at my center - goes thru reps like crazy.
Cheers all,
--William
Last edited by WebDunce on Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:38 am, edited 6 times in total |
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Ebichuman
Posts: 47
Phone Model:
moto v3-poiple
Service Provider:
Singulair |
Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:49 am |
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You know, if you dont agree with a QA score, you have the right to appeal it. I'm very surprised that the rep was docked 40 points for not providing a phone number. I dont know about prepaid, but postpaid, that doesn't result in a loss of points.
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Shalalala
Posts: 661 |
Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:47 pm |
We know have Quality +1 - must meet min of 85%, must have 93% reliab and 80% Avail.
It's crazy tasty. I love it.
Easiest thing.
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WebDunce
Posts: 178 |
Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:34 pm |
| Ebichuman wrote: | | You know, if you dont agree with a QA score, you have the right to appeal it. I'm very surprised that the rep was docked 40 points for not providing a phone number. I dont know about prepaid, but postpaid, that doesn't result in a loss of points. |
Yep, I don't know about all call centers, but at mine, it doesn't matter who QAs the call, and appealing won't help on this issue, if you don't give the number…then it counts against resolution -- i.e., 40 points off the call. (you can also ASK the customer if they'd like the number, if the customer refuses, then you don't have to give the number, but you HAVE to ask and the customer has to refuse it)
I know cuz it got me twice. Once when I just didn't give it, and the second time when I told the customer to just dial 611 from the handset. (it IS the same as dialing 611 from the handset, but they want us to give the toll free # as the toll free # can be used from either the handset, a landline, or even a postpaid cell phone).
My point is, though, that Cingular pays $1000+ to train this guy (who has managed a radioshack and owned his own computer store in Louisiana before Katrina), he was just in nesting but was tech-savvy and customer-oriented. he was an excellent rep…but cingular axed him cuz he gave LATE AERs or didn't give out a tollfree # at the end of a 45-minute call. All that training and experience down the drain. Now cingular pays 1000$+ again to train another.
And to be certain, I am not arguing that Cingular shouldn't desire this or that, but only that they are shooting themselves in the foot as they are firing great reps and constantly presenting newbies to customers cuz they fire so frequently due to the QA scoring small things as equally as big things. It is that pass / fail aspect of the QAs that I criticize. The fact that not giving out the phone # costs 40 points thus making the mistake equal with not solving the problem at all (i.e., both cause you to lose "resolution").
Newbies make more mistakes both big and small and also, due to ignorance, give out much misinformation. They improve if they can stay long enough to learn better, but it takes several months cuz the systems and policies are extremely complex. but, here, at my call center most people cant last more than 3 - 4 months due to the harshness of QA. And, unlike a QA rep, you cannot spend 3 hours during a call researching CSP, emailing Corporate and debating with fellow reps to clarify the true intent and meaning of some obscure sentence found deep in the nearly-unsearchable guts of CSP).
Cingular's pass / fail QA system is costing Cingular $$$$. Pure-n-simple.
They need to make it so a little mistake costs a FEW points off the call and big mistakes cost many points.
For instance, not pulling up CSP during a troubleshooting call is either 40 points or autofail…I cant remember. But I once asked a customer to powercycle BEFORE I had it pulled up (a little mistake, I just wasn't thinking about what if this solves it)…it fixed her problem too fast. Luckily the call dropped and I had to call her back…so Witness didn't catch all the conversation, so my QA guy said he just assumed I pulled CSP up (he was watching my back). That call could have gotten me fired even THOUGH I fixed the issue (I've failed QA 3 months in a row).
I've got 8 months experience. My forgetting to pull up CSP on a short call COULD have caused Cingular to lose all that experience only to replace me with a trainee, who will make all kinds of BIG mistakes and who will also likely be fired in 4 months.
I guess Cingular just gets a kick out of paying for people to be trained! 
--William
Last edited by WebDunce on Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:51 pm, edited 1 time in total |
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WebDunce
Posts: 178 |
Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:39 pm |
| TheManator wrote: | | We know have Quality +1 - must meet min of 85%, must have 93% reliab and 80% Avail. |
my center is about the same. but we must have 85% avail.
| TheManator wrote: | It's crazy tasty. I love it.
Easiest thing. |
I honestly can't tell. I think you are being facetious, though, right? Or do you truly enjoy the challenge?
--William
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PA_BELL
Posts: 18 |
Sun Jul 22, 2007 11:53 am |
I agree 100%. Every day policy changes and we have to do more steps on a call, but they keep dropping AHT. We are being set up to fail. I lost 40 points on a QA for telling a customer they would need a new sim and could pick one up at a store or I could Fed-Ex one out. 40 points were deducted because I did not say I could Fed-Ex one out before I told the custome one could be got at a store. I honestly have to say that that is the most nick-picky thing I have ever had a point deduction for. That is like saying when you go to a restarant and ordering a burger and fries when you should say I want an order of fries and a cheeseburger.WTF is the difference as long as both options are offered? The company spends $18 million a day to advertise, but if your stats are great for the month you get a terrific prize: a pack of starburst candy. CSR's are not appreciated at all!. The slogan the customer rules is also BS. God help us. 
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